Rise of the Warrior Apes Receives Golden Panda Award for Best Film

Rise of the Warrior Apes, featuring research from Professor John Mitani, won best sound and best script awards as well.

FRIDAY 19 OCTOBER, BRISTOL, UK: A gripping feature documentary, which follows a chilling political and social drama set amongst the world’s largest troop of chimpanzees, tonight walked away with the most coveted international prize in the international wildlife film and TV genre – the WWF Golden Panda Award.

RISE OF THE WARRIOR APES – produced by Keo Films, stood out amongst the 37 other finalists from 12 countries to claim not only the Golden Panda but also walked away with the Script Award and Films at 59 Sound Award. Set in Ngogo, Uganda, the epic story is told through the accounts of scientists who themselves witnessed and recorded the chilling events as they unfolded over two decades.

Elsewhere, National Geographic’s ONE STRANGE ROCK, which tells the extraordinary story of Earth, swept the board in each of the three categories for which it was nominated – Innovation, Music and the Doghouse Editing Award.

For the first time in the 36 year history of the Awards, the Outstanding Achievement Award was awarded to a women. Ellen Windemuth, Founder and CEO of Off The Fence Productions, received the award in honour of her dedication to and innovation within the natural world storytelling genre.